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for which a linear relationship exists between the
size of the plant and the cost of treatment over the
interval of interest. Such a relationship may look
like the curve described below and is shown in two
dimensions for clarity. By superimposing a matrix in
the form of:
treatment
cost
$ x 10 3
' ABC DEF GHI
JKL MNQ PQR
STU VWX YZA
plant size M.G.D.
on resulting design space we can identify three points,
namely, ABC, MNO and YZA, which are at or adjacent to
the cost/size function. Location ABC may serve as the
address for one or more frames of cartographic output
which show the number of treatment plants per county
which may be sited if each of the plants operate
within the extreme low range of plant size and the high
range of treatment cost. The system may be expanded
for the three dimensions.
Our new technique allows up to twenty separate frames
to be stored per design point with the option of
having each frame represent a multiple of the basic
design space units. It is interesting to note that
when the graphics data quantities are consistant with
the operational characteristic equations identied for
a given system, proportionality between the graphics
and engineering data results. Because the maps them
selves have been previously prepared, this system,
which has been developed by the author for the Energy
Analysis Group, has applications in instances where
users are lacking sophisticated computer skills.
Methods of this type are not restricted either to
water quality or energy related applications. Many
fields, including aeronautical mechanical structural
engineering, law enforcement, marketing and remote
sensing to name a few, can benefit from interactive
graphics. The reasons for the increasing popularity
of interactive graphics can be largely attributed to
decreasing hardware costs and the emergence of appli
cation techniques such as the one described above
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